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Portal:Tornadoes

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The Tornadoes Portal

A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma, in 1999
Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that are in contact with the Earth and either a cumulonimbus or a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often referred to as twisters, whirlwinds, or cyclones. While most tornadoes attain winds of less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), are about 250 feet (80 m) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers), the wind speeds in the most intense tornadoes can reach 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), are more than two miles (3 km) in diameter, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km). Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout, and waterspout. Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirl, and steam devil. Most tornadoes occur in North America (in the United States and Canada), concentrated in a region nicknamed the Tornado Alley. Tornadoes also occur in South America, South Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
On Friday, May 5, 1961, a strong tornado impacted the city of St. Petersburg, Florida. The tornado, which only touched down briefly, was estimated to have produced F2 damage on the Fujita scale. It struck the Northeast High School and the nearby Meadowlawn neighborhood in the extreme northern part of St. Petersburg, traveling 12 mi (0.80 km) and producing a 50-yard-wide (46 m) path. The tornado was part of a much larger outbreak sequence that produced 73 tornadoes. The parent thunderstorm that spawned the tornado was also attended by 34-inch-diameter (1.9 cm) hail. (Full article...)
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This page documents all tornadoes confirmed by various weather forecast offices of the National Weather Service in the United States from January to March 2018. Based on the 1991–2010 average, 35 tornadoes touch down in January, 29 touch down in February and 80 touch down in March. These tornadoes are commonly focused across the Southern United States due to their proximity to the unstable airmass and warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as California in association with winter storms.

A small late-January outbreak produced over a dozen tornadoes, but the month was otherwise quiet and finished below average with 15 tornadoes. A larger and more significant outbreak occurred in late-February, which pushed the month well above average with 51 tornadoes. A few sizeable outbreaks also occurred in March, but the month was still well below average with only 55 tornadoes. (Full article...)
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Hesston, Kansas F5 tornado
This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1990, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes, however by the 1990s tornado statistics were coming closer to the numbers we see today. (Full article...)
List of tornadoes by year

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2024 tornado activity

Map of tornado warnings and confirmed tornadoes from the outbreak

From April 26–28, 2024, a very large, deadly and destructive tornado outbreak occurred across the Midwestern, Southern, and High Plains regions of the United States, primarily on April 26 and 27. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) first issued an enhanced risk for the Plains on April 26, as a broad upper-trough moved eastwards, with tornadic activity erupting in the states of Iowa and Kansas that evening. A moderate risk was issued by the SPC on April 27 for areas further south in Oklahoma, where a deadly nocturnal event unfolded with many supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes tracking over towns multiple times. Millions were put under a particularly dangerous situation (PDS) tornado watch on April 27, and several PDS tornado warnings were issued that night as strong tornadoes touched down. The outbreak served as the beginning of a broader 16-day period of constant severe weather and tornado activity across the United States that would continue until May 10.

Damaging tornadoes occurred across many states over the two days of the outbreak. On April 26, a tornado in Lancaster County, Nebraska, injured three people, which touched down in the northeastern outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska. At least six fatalities were attributed to the tornadoes, with more than 156 people injured. At least twenty eight tornadoes were confirmed, with ten in Iowa and one each in Nebraska and Texas. Significant damage was reported in Elkhorn and near Bennington, Nebraska, from an EF3 wedge tornado that prompted a tornado emergency. Another long-tracked tornado in Iowa that impacted Shelby County, Iowa, prompted two tornado emergencies as well. On April 27, several tornadoes occurred in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Overnight, a significant tornado passed near Holdenville, Oklahoma, causing at least two fatalities and four injuries. A tornado impacted Sulphur, Oklahoma, as well, causing at least 30 injuries.

The outbreak was the largest since a similarly large and deadly outbreak the year prior, although this one was spread out over a slightly larger time period and was not as deadly. Six people died as a result of this outbreak, and over 150 others were injured. With a grand total of 145 tornadoes over a two-day period, the tornado outbreak gained 87 points on the outbreak intensity score. (Full article...)

Tornado anniversaries

June 6

  • 1974 – Scattered tornadoes touched down across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. An F3 tornado damaged or destroyed 300 homes in Forrest City, Arkansas, killing four people and injuring 112.

June 7

  • 1947 – An F4 tornado passed south of Vienna, Ohio and through Sharon and Farrell, Pennsylvania, killing six people and injuring 340. About 150 buildings were destroyed, and many people were injured in the collapse of apartment buildings and factories.

June 8

  • 1953 – One of the deadliest single tornadoes in U.S. history, an F5 tornado devastated portions of Flint and Beecher, Michigan, killing 116 people and injuring 844. Homes were obliterated along a mile-long stretch of one road. This was the last single tornado in the United States to kill more than 100 people until the 2011 Joplin tornado.
  • 1966 – An F5 tornado tore through Topeka, Kansas, killing 16 people and injuring 450. About 820 homes were destroyed and 3,000 were damaged as entire neighborhoods were leveled. The cost of damage was estimated at $100 to $250 million, $939 to $2,348 million in 2023, making it one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history.
  • 1984 – Just after midnight, an F5 tornado damaged or destroyed 90% of Barneveld, Wisconsin, including a subdivision of new houses, which was obliterated. More homes were destroyed in and near Black Earth. Nine people were killed and about 200 were injured. Residents were awoken by a loud clap of thunder just a few minutes before the tornado struck.

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Picture of a house destroyed by the Wallingford Tornado of 1878

Although historically the U.S. state of Connecticut is not typically known to fall casualty to tornadoes, more than 100 of these powerful storms have affected the state in modern history, resulting in at least 48 deaths, 780 injuries, and more than $500 million in damage. This list of tornadoes in the state is likely incomplete, as official records date back only to 1950 for tornadoes in the United States.

As with most of the northeastern United States, the number of tornadoes peaks in the summer months, normally in July or August. Hartford County has had the most tornadoes in the state, although since 1950 Litchfield County has reported the most tornadoes. Several areas have been struck more than once, and Waterbury has been struck by no less than four tornadoes since 1955. (Full article...)

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The scope of WikiProject Severe weather is to write articles about severe weather, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes. Their talk page is located here.

WikiProject Weather is the main hub for all articles that are weather-related. WikiProject Weather strives to improve articles in a variety of weather topics, including Tropical Cyclones, Severe Weather, General meteorology, Non-tropical Storms, Climate, Floods, Droughts and wildfires, Meteorological instruments and data, Meteorological Biographies, and Space Weather. If you would like to help, please visit the project talk page.

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